Nothing But Resent
by Thoronmage
Summary: Robin claims to hate the knight, and Frederick claims to hate the tactician. It was as simple as that. However, with the war against Gangrel developing, arguments between allies should be the least of everyone's worries. It's all a simple matter of pushing their feelings aside, but it depends on as to whether either of them are willing to put aside their pride too...
1. A difficult relationship

**Oh _wow,_ I'm writing another story shipping Frederick and Robin... But at least it isn't too like my other stories in the way in which the plot develops...**

* * *

"Milord, need I remind you that this woman is a stranger to us all, with naught to offer us but a name and strategic knowledge?" An armour clad knight was stood before his lord, a young man bearing the brand of the Ylissean royal family upon his right arm, expressing his concern towards the newcomer of the Shepherds. Bearing the nickname 'The Wariest Knight of Ylisse', it was expected for him to state these worries outright, of course.

The prince ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head as he provided what he thought was a sufficient response. "Robin… There is something about her which I trust. I know that you have your concerns, but with a war against Plegia occurring at right this moment… There is more to think about than whether a single person can be trusted, considering how helpful she has been so far," he stated, looking down at the ground.

Chrom had been distracted a lot as of late, and it was quite evident in his tone of voice. Well, how else would someone react upon their sister being forcefully taken by the ruler of the neighbouring kingdom, and with it being declared that she would be executed within the moon?

Not only was the burden of knowing this weighing down on Chrom though.

The fear of losing Emmeryn was a burden upon everyone's shoulders. And no more than the very woman which the prince had been talking about – the Shepherds' relatively new tactician of a mere few months – Robin. She was expected to come up with battle strategies in limited amounts of time, hours at most, before carrying them out within the same amount of time.

"I understand that… However-"

"Chrom..." Frederick was cut off from saying another word by the young woman opening the flap of the tent, in order to see if the Ylissean lord was present. "I- I've finished… We… We should be able to reach the Plegian capital by nightfall of the day we leave… And launch our attack to rescue Emmeryn the day after by dawn- I- I mean midday… Or was it dawn?... Well, it's one or the other..."

With the way in which Robin was stumbling over her words, it was more than obvious that she had been sleepless for many a night. Plus, alongside various ink stains which decorated her coat, and the way in which her messy white hair had been threw back, she had not been taking care of herself as much as she should have been.

With a concerned frown, Chrom silently gestured for Frederick to allow him to talk to Robin alone – something which did not please the knight at all due to his open distrust. However, he respected his lord's wishes, and left. Chrom took advantage of the tiny bit of extra space then to take hold of Robin's arm and take her over to a chair present in the tent.

"You need to sit down and rest, Robin."

It was an order which Robin refused to obey.

"I've been sat down for..." Robin counted four of her fingers then, before continuing, "at least, um… Six days. I don't need to rest..."

Not the response which Chrom was wanting to hear. He had never realised that she had been straining herself so much in trying to rescue Emmeryn, he had been too busy trying to keep up the Shepherds' spirits. "If I say so, you will do it, Robin. I never realised how tired you are making yourself! Gods, if I have to, I'll have to force you to drink some of Panne's tea…"

Robin, however, knew about the 'sedative effect' of said tea, and she had only one word to respond to that with. "No."

Within a few moments, the tactician had her parchment snatched off her, and Chrom held it above the candle which was lit within the tent.

"Sit down."

"Chrom… Don't fire- I mean burn it! I spent too much time on that," She whispered quietly then. Chrom knew that would be her response. What was unexpected to the prince though, was the sheer look of panic present on Robin's face. It was well known amongst the camp that Robin often hid her emotions, especially to those who were of a higher sort of authority to her. But this was the exact opposite to what was seen to be a known fact. And it almost… hurt him. Robin was important to him… And to break the trust between them would lose Ylisse the entire war. "Please..."

He placed the parchment on the table, but placed a book of his upon it, before pointing at the chair.

That is what made Robin realise that Chrom was only trying to look out for her as a friend. So, this time, she complied.

She never really liked being told what to do when she was basically at the verge of sleep. It was the point where she felt as though only what she thought would go, but that obviously wouldn't be the case this time.

"Honestly… I'm fine… Just… I need a bit of… space? Is that the word?"

"You've sealed yourself off from all life for days now, Robin! No!"

"Hmph..." Robin slowly rested her head on the arm of the chair then, a small pout upon her face. She _really_ wasn't taking this entire situation well. It didn't help that moments later, she fell off the chair and began to mutter a large variety of obscenities which he was never even aware of her knowing. "Just let me go..."

"If you go, it is to lie down in your tent. I'll have Frederick escort you _and_ keep an eye on you if you do leave."

The tactician growled as she rose to her feet, before rubbing the temples of her head. "I don't have a… um, choice, do I?..."

"No. No you don't. We're all worried about you, Robin… I'll be glad if you take a short nap, even if it is only for a few hours… I'll read your strategy as you rest, okay? And if you need anything, as I said, Frederick will be keeping an eye on you..."

* * *

It was so strange, seeing Robin wrapped up under many layers of blankets in the middle of the day whilst in Plegia… Did she really feel so cold in this climate? On top of that, she was _sleeping_ under that pile. She was nothing but a woman of many mysteries to Frederick.

But at the same time… Seeing her sleep like that… It made her seem so much more fragile than she made herself out to be at times.

Alongside his slight confusion, there was also the matter that she had managed to get herself into such a tired state. Could he have been a contributor towards her being in this state? After all, he _had_ made it mandatory for all members of the Shepherds to train for at least an hour every morning for the past week in the lead up to what could be the final confrontation with Plegia…

Whilst mid-thought, Robin made a slight whimpering sound, and her hand had began to twitch a slight bit. It Was quite evidently her showing slight discomfort as she slept, but it was difficult for the knight to figure out what the cause of that could possibly have been. Could it have been her bed? Was it uncomfortable? Or was she experiencing pain, considering the amount of training and fighting which she had done as of late? Nightmares?… It was definitely open to interpretation.

Then came the slight mumble, and her eyes opened a slight bit. "Where?… Oh… Oh, right… My tent..." Following that, she sat up and rubbed her head, oblivious to the fact that Frederick was staring right at her. "I can't remember lying down to sleep..."

"That is because you were not awake when you were lay down. I had to carry you here, and was made to keep an eye on you as you slept."

Frederick's stern voice was enough to make the tactician's face fall. "Well, you don't have to now, I'm awake… _goodbye,_ Frederick."

"No. I have been told to make sure that you remain resting for at least another hour by Milord, so I shall not be leaving at any time soon."

The response was not what she was wanting to hear. As a matter of fact, it was almost the exact opposite. She wanted him _gone._ It was a well known fact that the two held no feelings but resent towards each other after all. "Well, if you are not going to be making yourself scarce, I will leave then, despite the fact that this is _my_ tent. Gods damn knight..." Robin stood up, and threw a book in his general direction before slowly making her way towards the tent's entrance due to her legs feeling as though they too were half-asleep.

Once she was outside, the arms around her waist and chest were quite the surprise. "You are not leaving until I say you can, understand? I do not trust you, so if it means that I have to restrain you to your bed or desk, then I shall not hesitate. If I have to hold you at the point of a weapon until this time is up, then so be it. But no matter what, you shall not be leaving your tent."

"Kidnapper. You're acting like a kidnapper! Just you wait until I tell Chrom this, you will be in so much-!"

"I am just obeying my orders. If you were in my position, you would do the same." Following that, Frederick noticed that Robin was trying to dig her heels into the ground in order to prevent him from pulling her back in. "And if you think that shall stop me, then I shall ask you to try harder, because it won't."

Robin was never expecting him to be serious about tying her down if she continued to try and leave until Chrom said that she could… The rope which had ended up around her ankle was chafing her skin, and gods, she just wanted it to be free. Thankfully it was just one rope though, despite him threatening to have her completely tied down. "I never thought that one day, I would end up as your damn _prisoner._ What next, you lock me up in a cell, feeding me nothing but bread and water once a day?!"

"I would not do something such as that. You think too much of my authority."

"Authority? To me, you've never had authority, Frederick."

"You know, I preferred it much better when you were sleeping. You actually seemed less obnoxious as you slept."

"Obnoxious?!"

The yelling and shouting between the two continued for quite a while, to the point that the whole camp was starting to hear the argument. The last one to hear was quite obviously Chrom, the only person with the power to get the two to stop what they were going and calm down. Some people were not liking the arguing, and wished that they would stop and try to find a way to get along with each other. Different people were listening in around the tent, sometimes making the risk of peering into the tent.

Robin's face was bright red, a horrific contrast in comparison to what she looked like when she happy. Frederick had lost his straight face, and it was easy to pick up on the fact that he was just as mad as the woman. Things were threw about, weapons occasionally used, and every so often, there was the sounds of Frederick grabbing hold of Robin's wrists to stop her from slapping him across the face.

Chrom stormed in, frustrated at the yelling in the middle of one of the knight's slapping interventions. "What in the name of the gods is going on here?! I said for you to rest, Robin, and for you to keep an eye on her, Frederick! Not try to murder each other!"

"He called me obnoxious, unfeminine, and then said that I was a waste of space! Is it not surprising that I am mad at him?! Plus, he won't let me leave my own damn tent! And look! He tried to tie me to my bed! Thank the gods I found a fire tome a few minutes ago to burn the rope off!"

" _She_ refused to rest, and _she_ blatantly ignored me when I told her what you had said about her resting, Milord! That, and you even witnessed her attempting to violate me with her fist."

" _Violate?! I'll show you violate in a minute!"_

The prince's face was twitching at their shouting then, and he couldn't take any more of it. " _Enough!_ One more word from either of you, and you both will be in serious trouble once we have rescued Emmeryn! We can't be doing with arguing between allies at the moment, and especially not when the life of the exalt is at risk! I was hoping that you both could put aside your differences and just rest for a while, but quite obviously I was wrong there..."

Robin's face was now rather pinkish, but not due to her calming down, but rather through humility. She hadn't expected her best friend to snap at her like that… Though she was aware that he was mad at them both, it felt more as though the anger was directed towards her.

"Now, Robin, I want you to lie down for a few minutes, and Frederick, you are making sure that she does not leave the tent. No arguing. Is that understood?"

Glares were cast between knight and tactician, and both of them made a similar grunting sound, as if to say that they didn't exactly care, but if either of them overstepped their boundary, they probably would snap.

"Tch… Fine… But only because I don't want to stress you out, Chrom..."

"I _suppose."_

* * *

"Bastard!" Robin swung her sword towards a Wyvern rider which had tried to cut her down whilst she was focussed upon a different enemy. "Trying to pick off the one person who wasn't fighting alongside one of their comrades?!" It was quite noticeable that Robin was the only one of the Shpeherds which didn't happen to be fighting alongside an ally, especially considering that she was fighting out in the open. That was because she had directed the majority towards a wall, to allow them to move further in less time to try and rescue Emmeryn quicker.

It wasn't too tactically sound to fight out where she was, but she did have reasoning for it. She was trying to prove herself. Frederick had accused her of continuing to get insufficient rest, and had said that on the battlefield, she would be a hindrance. She didn't like being seen as a burden, and her pride was what led her into making the brash decision.

After a few moments, she had killed the first soldier which she was fighting, leaving her with just the wyvern rider to battle. Or at least it did for a few moments. Arrows flew at her from various different directions, and she had noticed that Plegian archers were trying to keep her in one spot with their arrows. That also allowed for another Wyvern rider to approach her from behind, and that sent shivers down her spine.

Perhaps that stupid man was right… It was almost definite that she would be leaving the battlefield as a corpse to be disposed of…

Her sword was quickly discarded, and a tome was whipped out of her coat just as an arrow pierced some loose material of her coat, almost pinning her down to the ground if she hadn't have ripped it out. Not long after that, the blade of an axe made contact with her arm, making her scream out loud. Thank the gods she had stepped to the side the second that she felt the blade, for otherwise, her arm would have been brutally severed off. Blood trickling down her arm wasn't exactly welcomed either, because she was desperate to finish off these enemies to try and help in the efforts to get towards Emmeryn before the order for her execution was to be given.

"Damn you _all!"_ She then screamed, throwing magic towards the wyvern rider behind her, due to them being the next one preparing to attack. Before she was able to fire another attack though, she noticed that three arrows were heading towards her at once. No matter what… No matter where she moved… She would be too slow, and end up being pieced by at least one of them.

It was a lost cause trying to escape… But it wasn't too late to be rescued by somebody who was fast enough. Feeling somebody grab hold of her hand and pull her as out of the line of fire was enough to send her bawling into tears. She _wasn't_ going to die yet… Looking up though, she could barely make out her rescuer… At least until she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "F- Frederick?..."

His eyes were opened wide, almost as if out of concern or worry. That was a surprising look for him… "What were you doing?! You are the tactician, and we need you _alive!_ It looked as though you were on a death mission just then! You are lucky that I decided to pull back to get you away from those arrows!"

"Forget that… Wh- Why did you decide to save me?! You were meant to be fighting with Virion!"

"We were joined by a Plegian dark mage and one of the Ylissean war monks. He is with them. And I saved you because, as I said, we need you! Stop being reckless!"

"It's your fault… The only reason I was fighting alone… Was because you said that I would be a hindrance. I never in a million years expected for them to all gang up on me like that!"

Robin was also starting to look wide eyed then, so the knight was quick to take hold of her wrists and pull her up onto his horse just in front of him. "I am not allowing you to leave my sight. A dead tactician is not what we need at the moment."

That was surprising… He was expressing concern towards her…

"Robin, do you understand?…" She could only give a slightly shaken nod. "Are you capable of fighting? That wound on your arm looks as though it is painful." Another small nod was given then, and he sighed because of that. "Don't push yourself. I will be the one responsible if you die now, and I shall not allow myself to be put to shame like that."

And _there_ came his pride… His stubborn _, stubborn_ pride _…_ Robin could feel her face heat up as she thought that, and she assumed almost straight away that it was frustration towards that aspect of him.

Before either of them were able to move further on, they were surrounded by the enemies which had almost took the tactician out of the picture within a matter of seconds. That made Robin's tactician instincts kick in almost instantaneously. "We need to head towards the others, we're getting a bit too far apart on the battlefield… Aim for the enemies directly ahead of us, and clear a path out of here. I will aim with my tome towards any archers which emerge before us, or at any opponents which get too close to us. Get that?" A nod was received, and so they were quick to start moving forward. "Once we're a lot closer to the others, we can face the remaining enemies then, because whoever is close to us could assist us in stopping their advances if necessary."

"Understood."

Now, that felt _good._ Ordering Frederick around… Maybe she could pair herself up with him in future battles, just to feel this warm, tingly feeling that was coursing through her body again through bossing him about…

Three archers, two wyvern riders, and five footsoldiers later, the duo were reunited with the remaining Shepherds. Unfortunately, it was at the worst possible time…

"If anyone moves, Emmeryn gets it! Unless, of course, you are willing to give me the Fire Emblem!"

"The Fire Emblem… That's what is on Chrom's arm, isn't it?..."

"Yes..."

Robin then gulped, before she shouted out as she noticed that Chrom was slowly pulling the object off his arm. "Chrom! Make sure that you're doing the right decision, okay?! Don't let his threats influence your mind and your decision!"

And in a flurry of emotions and shouting…

Emmeryn fell.

Seeing the pain on the faces of the Ylissean prince and princess was enough to make Robin start shaking and tearing up also, and her breathing was turning shaky. Seeing the exalt hit the ground though… It made her start to hyperventilate, as it was the most horrific sight she had seen that day.

And on top of that...

Her plan, her well thought out strategy… _had failed._

She was that shaken up, it was a relief to feel Frederick's arms around her, and to hear him whisper down her ear to take deep breaths to steady her breathing, and then to keep her breathing at the same pace as his to calm down. "Do not panic yourself like that. We will get our revenge for this horrific deed… We need you to keep calm in order to coordinate ourselves after this, okay Robin?… Though we may dislike each other, I will be there to assist. That is my duty as a knight, after all."

"As long as y- you don't get on my nerves by following me around all of the d- damn time… Or h- hassle me to get rest..."

"As you wish."


	2. Pushing boundaries

**I'm getting this wrote faster than anything else at the moment, even though I had planned to update another story before this one... Oh well!**

* * *

Her coat was plastered to her body, and the only thing which he could note about her was that her femininity was much more emphasised whilst in this state. Despite the fact that they were in combat in their attempt to escape Plegia, he couldn't help but look. After all, she had spent at least the past hour clung to him and his steed as she attempted to calm down. He had grown used to having her in his sight over that short amount of time.

Robin had caught sight of his glances, and gritted her teeth as she pulled her hood up over her head. "Pick your jaw up, you uncouth knight. Yes, I happen to have a chest, yes, I suppose I have a slimmer figure than my coat makes out. Rain does this to clothes, believe it or not. You're lucky that you have some damn armour." Following that, she tightened her grasp of her tome in the arm which she had injured before, and used her other arm to throw out a blast towards a Plegian who was intending on attacking Lissa as she tried to make her way over to somebody who was injured across the battlefield.

He hated her manner of speaking to him at times, especially considering that he had a much more established presence within the Shepherds. She was still new (even though it had been a year since she had joined them) and he did not appreciate how she made it sound as though she could boss him about. Her pride was rather pig-headed in his opinion, despite being unaware of the fact that his was just the same.

The knight rolled his eyes, before going on to attack some more enemies which were about to attack together. Speaking of fighting together, _she_ was _meant_ to be fighting alongside him due to how quickly they had cut down enemies in the previous battle, but she seemed to have other ideas and was slowly drifting away in a different direction. He was _very_ tempted to pull her back onto his horse like before… But he could only really tolerate her in small amounts. To be honest, he felt as though she thought the same.

The downpour seemed to get heavier the more that the Shepherds fought in order to get their freedom from Plegia. People were starting to slip about in the damp sand, and those who possessed any form of steed which was incapable of flying were almost completely immobilised also.

Robin was beginning to get annoyed at having to pull people out from the sand, due to her boots seeming to be suited for the Plegian sand – wet or not. It made her think that she must definitely have some sort of ties to Plegia, due to the fact that she somehow knew her way around the country and also her clothes now. As she thought rather deeply about that, she continued to pull people up as she also threw a few more attacks. It was becoming nothing but exhausting and irritating after a while, almost as irritating as _Frederick._

"Gods damn it..." The tactician lowered the arm with her tome, and rubbed the cut which was starting to feel very sore. "I can't keep this up unless I get somebody to look at my arm..." She glanced around for any sign of Lissa, Maribelle or Libra, but there was nobody nearby at that point. Almost everyone was moving at a much slower pace than her. Perhaps it was a sign that she could have a small rest for a moment…

He _knew_ it. He knew there was a reason why he couldn't trust that woman! Robin was there at first, and now there was no sign of her now that all of their opponents had them surrounded! She _must_ have been in cohorts with them!

Frederick really was not in a good mood. His horse was restricted to a very muddy area, and he wasn't much better off in his armour either. He couldn't risk leaving his horse alone either, because somebody could steal it, possibly even kill it, and that was not a risk he was willing to take. Robin's absence was also a major contributor to his anger.

Quickly, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a small group of opponents nearby, but they never noticed him due to how he was stood by a large rock face. He had a javelin too, so it was quite useful to have in his possession at that moment in time… But something stopped him from throwing it. He didn't know what, but _something_ was making his muscles tense up. He had a horrible feeling that something was going to go wrong…

Elsewhere, Robin had finally been joined up with somebody else, Chrom, and had been able to quickly tend to her arm with a vulnerary which the man had within his possession. Despite them both continuing on together, Robin still wasn't feeling completely confident with what they were doing. "You know… I've not seen many people recently… Doesn't that seem a little, uh, unnerving?..."

The Ylissean prince looked at the tactician when she spoke, before nodding. It was rather discouraging… "Maybe we're just a bit too far ahead?… It probably would be better if we had everyone else nearby… I don't know about you, but…" The prince found it hard to continue speaking, but the woman understood what he was getting at.

"We can't risk Ylisse losing any more. Yes, I know..." She glanced down at the damp ground then, continuing her sentence in her head. ' _And Ylisse can't risk losing you, Chrom… Emmeryn seemingly had full confidence in you to care for the halidom, and make it greater than she ever could…'_

Before the two could even consider turning back to meet up with the others though, Robin suddenly shivered, presumably on account of the excessive rain which she had endured.

"Or maybe we should wait here-"

"We can't! We need to get out of this damn country and come up with a plan to stop Gangrel before he comes up with a plan to flatten Ylisse! We can't let your sister's sacrifice be in vain, Chrom! We need to keep going!" She was growing sick of shouting 'we', but it was all that was running through her head. "That, and many of us have almost died today – me included. How can we stop the mad king if there isn't anyone to fight him?"

Just the thought of almost dying and having her life be saved by _Frederick_ was enough to make her want to wretch, but it was true. Though he hated her, he really did take his duties seriously when he had to. Then she had another thought… How many other lives had the knight saved just over the past few days as a part of his duty? There was quite a few that she could count from the top of her head… Then she froze. Was she seeing that irritating man in a _good light_? Gods, she really must be ill.

"We'll go back a bit then, but not too much. Hopefully the others should be catching up now anyway. Last time I saw them, they were finding ways to get around the movement difficulties."

"Maybe I can come up with some sort of plan to- Actually, forget that..." She had glanced around as she spoke, and had noticed that there was some Plegian soldiers approaching them from the sides. "We're going to gave to fight for a while..."

* * *

The tactician could only sigh with relief when she had finally got into the room which she was given at a Feroxi barracks that night, simply because of it being the first warm room which she had been in for weeks. Though she didn't mind staying in her tent most of the time, the reassurance of warmth and more privacy was most welcome. It was a shame that the stay would only be a temporary one though – two or three days at most. They did, after all, have to return to Plegia to put an end to Gangrel's misdeeds once and for all.

What was even better than all of that though… Chrom had told everyone that there was to be no training or combat whilst they were there, unless you wished to practise. That meant that she could remain in that room and come up with a plan for most of the time, without any interruptions or any _knights_ waking you up at the first break of sunlight in order to tire you out… That thought was heavenly to her.

Slowly, she pulled off her coat and threw it over a chair in the room, and then walked over to the window and glanced out. For Ferox, the skies were clear that night… Normally it would have been grey and snowing. A nice change, in all honesty. It made her feel much calmer and relaxed than she had been earlier.

 _Perhaps it could help Chrom and Lissa clear their minds over what had happened to Emmeryn too…_

Once Robin had finished gazing outside, she then paced around the room a few times. She didn't know the time, so she didn't know if it was early night or very late into the night. Was there time to make a start on a plan, or not? It took her only a few moments to decide that she would sleep.

There was only one annoying thing about deciding to sleep though. She didn't have any proper clothes to wear when she slept, just a change of outfit. She had already changed clothes once that day, swapping her soaked, sand covered clothes for fresh ones which were now all sweaty. On top of that, the bedsheets were _very_ thick, meaning that she would be boiling if she dared wear clothes. "Ugh… I'm going to have to sleep in underwear… Gods..."

At the same time, the only one up and about from the Shepherds – no, in the barracks – was Frederick. His head was filled with concern. _Why_ did his body freeze up before? Never had it happened before. It was also annoying that he didn't know why he felt as though something would go wrong either. Not long after that had happened, Robin and Chrom had showed up, covered in injuries that were presumably from combat. But… That wasn't something which could be seen as going horrifically wrong, because the two were alive, and the injuries were mostly small cuts and bruises.

Then the thought of Robin and Chrom brought his thoughts towards his suspicions before that had happened… He had persuaded himself that Robin was a traitor, working with the Plegians. She quite obviously wasn't if she had ended up fighting with the prince. Despite that, he had expressed his concern over her possibly being a Plegian spy to her once the battle had finished, and she had snapped back at him, as usual. Perhaps, now that he had the time to mull it over, he would apologise.

 _Or maybe he wouldn't_.

Frederick needed confirmation that she wasn't just putting on an act. He _knew_ that it was his wariness thinking for him, but he needed to assure the safety of his companions. He could _not_ take any risks.

From that, he decided that he needed to have a word with her right there and then. Thankfully, he had taken a mental note of all of the room assignments made once they had reached the barracks, so he knew exactly where her room happened to be. It didn't help his concerns at the fact that she was one of three people who had a room of their own, with him and Chrom being the other two. He could trust Chrom, so he was fine with him doing that. But her… It just made his suspicions worse.

Briskly, he made his way towards the room in which the woman should have been in once he had made his mind up. He was going to find out today as to whether he truly could trust her or not, and at no other time. He did not care if she were to be sleeping or not, he needed to make up his mind.

What a relief it was to hear movement inside her room when he got there, as it meant that she had to be awake. So, without any hesitation, he knocked on the door.

"Gods damn it… Who's there? I was just about to sleep..." Robin stood up from the bed which she had only just sat down on, before walking over to the door and placing her hand upon the door handle. She _would_ have opened it if it weren't for the fact that she was only in her underwear. That made her run to grab her coat and pull it around herself quickly. In that time, there wasn't a response, so she groaned. "Seriously, who is it?… I'm not in the mood for visitors at this time..."

Frederick frowned at the rather spiteful manner in which she said that she wasn't wanting visitors, so he spoke up. He had wanted her to open the door so they could speak there and then, not to stay inside. "I want to have a word with you. If you don't come out, I will come in."

"Gods! Won't you just leave me alone, Frederick?! I have to put up with you enough during the day..." With that, she stormed over to the door and threw it open. "Go away. Why don't you just sleep like everyone else?!"

He grabbed hold of her wrist then, as he noticed that she was about to close the door again. "You're being _loud._ You're going to stop everyone from sleeping if you keep that up."

"Let go of me..." Her voice had suddenly become a whisper then, and she was staring at his hand with wide eyes, as though it weren't meant to be there. "Let me sleep… I just wanted to rest..." Following that, she had tried tugging her hand free. His response was taking hold of her other hand. "What are you trying to do?!"

He glared daggers at her, before pushing her backward into her room and kicking her door closed. He didn't care if she was wanting him gone, because he _needed_ answers. "Tell me one thing, Robin. Just one. Are you truly assisting us, or are you simply a good for nothing Plegian spy, planning on getting us all killed at a time where it matters most?"

Robin could feel her chest tighten as he practically hissed at her, because she felt as though he was trying to interrogate her alongside the fact that she didn't have a hand to keep her coat secured around her body. "This is why you needed to bother me at this time?... This is why you had to grab hold of me and intrude my privacy when I said to leave me alone?… Because, Frederick, this contradicts entirely what you did and what you were saying to me this morning…" As she spoke, her eyes began to well up in tears because she was both upset and angry. "You saved my life… You helped to keep me calm when I was clearly shook up over Emmeryn's death… You said that even though we dislike each other, you would be there for me if necessary, and that made me think that maybe, just maybe, I could bring myself around to seeing you as a friend like I do Chrom and Lissa… And look at you now! You grab hold of me, barged into my room- essentially invading my privacy, start interrogating me, and you have no gods damn regard to the fact that I'm barely clothed! If you wanted to question my loyalty to the only thing that I know because of my amnesia, you could have at least given me the opportunity to dress myself!" By that point, her face was a furious shade of red, and she was squirming to get her wrists free to pull her coat around herself.

Frederick had never even noticed the tactician's manner of dressing until she had mentioned being barely clothed due to the lack of light except for that from a candle within the room. Though… Her words were more important than how she looked, with her appropriately curved body, and pale skin… Not to mention the rather… striking looking scars which covered what he could see of her chest and her stomach…

" _Stop that right now, or so help me, I will hurt you."_ Her words came from almost out of nowhere, but were enough to snap him out of his daze. "That's the second time today I have caught you gawping at me… First when I was drenched and had my clothes clinging to me, and now when I'm almost naked and you won't even allow me to cover myself up!"

"You make it sound as though I find you attractive, which I don't."

"And _you_ make it sound as though I'm trying to get you to pursue me! In your damn dreams would I try that! I wouldn't dare set my standards so low!"

"I never knew that you _had_ standards."

What had started out as a question of loyalty was slowly becoming much more personal, each response becoming more and more intimate. The two never realised how far they had taken their arguing until Robin had ended up pinned against a wall, Frederick staring at her as though she were the lowliest scum upon the continent.

"Tch, never knew that you were so desperate to practically hold me as your prisoner again… Do you like that, huh?! Seeing me restrained and unable to escape, where you can do whatever you want to me upon a whim!?"

Her words were enough to make him wince, and slightly loosen his grasp of her arms. "You misjudge my character, Robin… I would never do something so despicable. Even to somebody who I dislike, yet find to be ever so mysteriously fascinating." Once he had finished speaking, her wrists were released, and she was quick to pull her coat around her body.

Robin's breathing was heavy, and she wanted to just hit him. She was so _scared_ of him, yet at the same time, she both _resented_ him and... trusted him. It was a strange combination of emotions, but she knew how she felt. "A- Answer me this… Do you really trust me?… And don't let your prudence influence your response… I want _you_ to answer..."

That was hard for him to do… His wariness was so much of what he was, he found it hard to put aside to see what he truly felt. But… Why would she ask him something like that?

"Answer me, Frederick…"

"I…" He had to make sure that he said the right thing. Was his answer who he genuinely was?… It had to be. "I do trust you. Yes."

"Right… I guess I can forgive you for tonight's events then. But now..." The fear that was present on her face quickly turned to a cross between anger and playfulness. "It is time for you to get _out_."

"And if I refuse?"

"Everyone finds out about the events which transpired tonight. And you know what some people are like for taking things out of context and blowing them out of proportion. And don't think that I am bluffing either, because I can and will." She then slowly pushed past him towards the bed, and cast a glare over her shoulder as she began to pull her coat off. "And if you decide to stay in here to make sure that I am not conniving with the enemy, don't even think about lying in this bed… It's mine. Damn knight..."

"You make it sound as though you _want_ me to stay." he muttered, folding his arms with a sigh as she lay under the bedcovers.

"In your dreams… Go to your room and sleep..." She was obviously falling asleep very quickly now that she was lay down, so he rolled his eyes and made his way towards the door.

Once outside, he shook his head and sighed again. "Egotistical woman… She takes advantage of anything to get her own way..."


	3. How, oh master of kissing convincingly?

**Ah, I quite enjoyed writing this chapter... So... I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I had writing it. Have a happy 2016, everyone!**

* * *

It was about mid-morning, and Robin had finally brought herself around to getting out of bed and finding something to eat. It was strange seeing her companions scattered throughout the Feroxi barracks without hearing much laughter or chatting. The forlornness of everyone over Emmeryn's death… She could only blame that upon herself. If her strategy had worked as she had planned it to, maybe things would have been different…

When she had managed to bring herself around to getting her food, she felt a hand rest upon her shoulder from behind, and it scared her out of her skin. "Wh- Who is-?!"

Hearing a quiet chuckle from Sumia before she spoke was enough to make the tactician relax a slight bit. "Hey… Can I have a word with you when you've ate? It will only take a few minutes." The pegasus knight had barely waited for a reply before going to sit down at a different table with Cordelia and Maribelle.

Robin sighed, before going to sit down. She was wondering what Sumia wanted to talk about. Maybe she had noticed that she seemed rather down due to the atmosphere? It was hard to figure out what it could possibly be about.

Upon sitting down at a different table on her own, she closed her eyes and picked up one of the slices of bread before her. On the odd occasion in which she did open her eyes in order to pick up some more bread, her gaze was cast low and she looked close to tears. Emmeryn was one of the reasons as to why she felt so down, but the other reason… Was that she still felt a slight bit shook up over the previous night's… _events_ in her room. Robin was rather glad that she hadn't seen Frederick that morning though, or else she probably would have tried to throw a book at him.

Before she could reach out for a drink which somebody had ended up giving to her at some point, somebody's hand had ended up pinning her wrist down to the table. "Come on, you're coming with us now, Robin. Sumia did tell you that you were needed for a few minutes, and now is the start of those few minutes." Cordelia was quick to pull the weary woman up to her feet, despite the groaning sounds which she was making during the process. "I'll take you to the room which me and Sumia are staying in. It's next to yours, so you can go there if you wish afterwards."

"Ugh… Fine..."

In a matter of minutes, Robin was pushed down into a seat in the pegasus knights' room, before getting stared at intently by three pairs of eyes belonging to the women which had all been sat together before. "So… Is it true what we've been hearing, Robin?" Maribelle's scornful look was enough to make her wince.

"Is… what true?..."

Sumia sighed, and poked the tactician's head. "Come on, you don't need to hide it from us..." They all seemed to think that she knew what they were talking about when she didn't. "Or are you trying to keep it a secret?… If you are, we promise, we'll keep it quiet. You can trust us, okay?"

Robin was close to tearing out her hair, simply because she had no idea on as to what they were getting at, and she was intent on making them understand that. "I don't get what you are-!" Cordelia shot a glare at her mid-sentence, shocking the tactician into falling silent.

Once she was sure that Robin was quiet, she began to explain the situation in a rather angry manner. "We _heard_ you, Robin! There were loud sounds from your room last night! Was it Frederick? Are you two sleeping together?!"

Robin froze at those words. They heard her last night, and they thought that she and Frederick had some sort of sexual relationship going on?! She had to put that misunderstanding straight as soon as possible. "We were _arguing._ He still has it in his head that I could have been a spy for that mad king Gangrel and Plegia, plotting against everyone behind your backs, so he was confronting me over it! That, and most of the loud sounds happened to be me getting mad at the fact that he had forced his way into my room whilst I was barely clothed! I- I hate the damn man, and he quite obviously hates me back! There's n- nothing sexual going on!" The tactician was on her feet by then, and had ended up hitting the wall.

Cordelia frowned, before shaking her head. "Well, we'll see what the others find out, to see if your claims are legitimate..."

"You think I'm lying!? And what do you mean by _others?!"_

"No, we do not think that you are neglecting to tell us the truth, but put in simple terms, we are simply trying to find out if the stories that we have been hearing for weeks now about your relationship with Sir Frederick are true." Maribelle stated, putting her hand on Robin's shoulder and making her sit back down. The tactician was quick to bury her head in her hands, wanting to cry from desperation. There had been rumours about her and _him_ being a couple for weeks?! This whole situation with Frederick was getting out of hand by that point. She needed to sort it out fast.

After a few minutes of absolute silence, there was a knock on the door. Robin glanced up, and growled at the sight of Gaius, Gregor and Stahl. That led to her pulling her coat's hood up so that she could conceal her frustration - frustration which was made even worse once Gaius had began to speak. "So… We spoke to him about Bubbles. He almost knocked me out in one hit, and was getting mad at us for even bringing her up in front of him..."

 _Finally_ , the proof that she had been needing. Frederick held no feelings for her! "See?! I don't like him, and he doesn't like me-" Robin had stood back up again, and her face was red through frustration, albeit it was hardly possible to see due to her hood. Having Gaius walk over to her and shove a lolly into her mouth mid-sentence didn't help with that anger either.

"Now, if you had let me continue, Bubbles… We eventually managed to get him to answer our questions. But maybe we should discuss this without you being here. After all, we got quite a bit of juicy details from him..." As she pulled the candy out of her mouth and threw it down, Gregor had took a firm grasp of her wrists and began to push her towards the door.

Robin got annoyed at then being shoved out of the room, due to wanting to hear what treacherous things Frederick had been spouting out about her. The only way in which she could find out was if she listened in through her room… but she was stopped before she could even dare to do so. Looking up, she groaned at the sight of _him. "_ I'm not in the mood to be dealing with you right now, because of that lot..." She growled as she gestured towards Cordelia and Sumia's room.

Frederick gave her his trademark frown, before he rubbed his temples. "I need to have a word with you."

"If this is about last night, I don't want to know. It's all in the past. Water under the bridge. A figment of our imaginations if you so wish. As I said, I'm not in the mood to be dealing with-!" Before she could finish her sentence, he had took hold of her wrist and had began pulling her somewhere else in the barracks. "Stop this right now, Frederick… I mean it!"

He simply grunted as he pushed a door to another room open, and then dragged her inside moments later. "You asked me this last night, so now I am asking you. Do you trust me?" He kept his back turned to her as he locked the door, and took a deep breath. "Because, to be quite honest, I can not tell as to whether you do or not, and it's becoming frustrating not knowing. You speak to me with bitterness, and then moments later you seem to talk as though we are almost like friends."

The tactician remained silent as she glared at the man, before folding her arms and turning her back to him. "I don't see why you have to know… After all, you're the one who seems to have multiple personalities – your strict, wary side and your seemingly more emotional side!"

"You do realise… That I was just interrogated by four buffoons, and threatened into saying that I loved you?! I wasn't allowed to say anything that they didn't want to hear, because they had caught me at the one moment in which I was unarmed and they weren't?!" He then grabbed hold of her arms and forced her to face him, and had got right up into her face. "Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to have your emotions manipulated like that?! They almost had me persuaded that I actually _did_ hold romantic feelings towards you!"

Robin could only laugh at that, and pushed his arms off her due to the fact that she could feel his strength wavering. He _had_ to be kidding. He was spouting out absolute nonsense! Before she could dare say a word though, Frederick had ended up muttering a remark that sent her face crimson with annoyance.

"You're a stubborn woman."

"Me?… You're the stubborn one." She rested her hand upon the door then with the intention of finding somewhere which was quiet to dwell on her thoughts and starting to come up with her next plan, before remembering that he had locked it. "Let me leave. I've got planning to do, and I bet that Chrom wouldn't be happy if we don't end up with a strategy before we leave to go and fight Gangrel in a few days."

"You haven't answered my question yet… I'll let you go when you answer it. And along similar lines to what you said, don't allow your hatred to answer for you. Do you trust me or not?" His hand was now resting upon the door handle, making it look as though he wanted to pull it off if she responded wrong. "Robin, please… Just one word. Just one word is all that it takes. Yes or no?"

* * *

Oh, he had messed up. He had messed up big time. It had been about thirty minutes since Frederick had allowed Robin to leave his room, but he had so much regret over even talking to her. It didn't help trying to conceal just _how_ emotional he had felt since the exalt's death, let alone try to maintain the frustration which he had towards that woman! He normally would be able to keep up both façades at once, and allow things to flow as usual… But after the night before, she had gone and broke down them both! He wouldn't be able to keep the straight face which he was known to maintain for much longer, especially when _she_ was around!

He wished that he could just find a way to get her out of his life, but she was practically impossible to avoid. For one, she was the tactician of the army. Second of all, just a few days earlier Chrom had said that once the war was over she could reside within the Ylissean castle with them if she wished, and she had accepted the offer. Frederick lived in the Ylissean castle too. That would be nothing but _joyous._ Everyone would get to hear their shouting at one another on a daily basis!

The thing was though, because of him being unable to maintain his anger towards her… His other emotions were beginning to come into play. Emotions which he rarely ever felt. Elated, yet strangely dissatisfied and… guilty. He could understand the joy… But why was he feeling as though he wasn't satisfied? What was the guilt even about?

It was only once he had sat down upon a seat within the room that he realised why. He _liked_ to argue with her, it was… nice to have a conflicting opinion to his amongst the ranks of his allies for once. The fact that he had mostly remained calm except for when he had told her about what he was forced into admitting _had_ to be behind his lack of satisfaction. But still, there was guilt… Could it have been because of his liking of their fights?…

Gods, what was going on with his head?!

Meanwhile, Robin had her head buried upon a table, spinning a quill pen between her fingers. She couldn't concentrate, because she was aware that in the room next door was a conversation about her going on. Every so often she heard laughter, and that made her stop moving her fingers and slam her fist down onto the wood. Were they laughing about her, or at something else?

She was close to sinking down onto the floor when she heard everything go into uproar though, but the most that she could do was slam her fist onto the table with more force than previously, spilling a pot of ink all over her arm and over the parchment with small scribbles set out in front of her. "Ugh..." After that, Robin had to pull her coat off and stare at the ink stain for a moment, before she shrugged it off and tossed it over to the small chest of her belongings. After continuing to stare at it for another few moments, she then grabbed some blankets and wrapped them over her shoulders for the sake of having some reassuring weight upon her. "I'm not in the mood for this now..."

Once she had sat back down, Robin closed her eyes and began to think. She didn't know what to even do for her plan. They didn't even know where they were going to confront Gangrel, for gods' sake! How could she be expected to plan without any information whatsoever save for the fact that the fight would take place _somewhere_ on the continent!

The ink had started to cover the blankets within a matter of moments, which led to her screaming and tossing them across the room. She just couldn't be dealing with this. She couldn't think straight – and when she was able to compose her thoughts, laughter erupted from the neighbouring room and sent her mind into chaos again. "Laughing at me, laughing at him, laughing at us… Tch, if only there was a way to get them to stop… I would have at least thought that Maribelle wouldn't have got herself involved… Stahl too." When she closed her eyes and began to tap her foot, she then began to try and think of a way to get them to stop.

Then it came to her. There was a way… But as to whether she could keep it up until things quietened down… That was another question. After all, it would only be until then that she would need to keep the act up.

She was going to need to find Frederick.

Following a quick glance at her coat, before deciding that it would not be worth taking it until the ink had either dried or had been washed out, Robin opened the door to her room, and glanced around. Which direction was his room again? She could only vaguely remember the directions in which he had dragged her before, but her photographic memory was enough to direct her in the general direction which she needed to go.

His door was slightly open when she got there, and Robin squinted as she thought about as to whether he would be in there, possibly in a similar state to what she was the night before. Despite that, she eventually brought herself around to quietly call his name. Moments later, she heard a rather surprised mumble.

"Just… Give me a second." After a small commotion from inside the room, the door was opened, and she heard a sigh. "Are you here to vent your frustrations out through yelling at me?" He didn't seem in the best of moods, his scruffy appearance and bloody knuckles were indicator enough of that.

"For once… No." She was going to come out with some sort of bitter comment, but she changed her mind mid-sentence. "I… I need your help..." Robin was sweating by that point, not believing that she was _actually_ doing this. "I'm getting sick of people and their damn rumours… There's a gathering in the room next door to mine talking about _us_ and it's starting to really annoy me… I want it to stop, or at least get them to quieten down about it..." She was close to shivering too, as she began to struggle with even getting her words out.

Much to her surprise, he placed his hands upon her shoulders to keep her stood still. "Take your time. You can't get my help if you're unconscious on the floor."

The tactician nodded shakily, before taking a deep breath. "We… The only way that we can get them to tone it down… Is if we play along with the rumours too… I _really_ don't want to, and I mean _**really**_ don't… But I can't think about anything else whilst this continues! Chrom will kill me if I don't get a plan together! N- Not literally kill, but you can catch the gist of it, right?!" Her panicking was rather out of control by that point.

Frederick was wincing at her plan too, but he couldn't help but agree. They had no choice _but_ to act as though they were a couple until everyone got on to dwelling upon the next rumour. "I… understand. I do not want to go through with this either, but if it saves us from being at the forefront of everyone's minds..."

"So… We still hate each other, right?"

"Of course. I hold nothing but resent towards you, Robin. Nothing more, nothing less. Now calm down, you look close to hyperventilating."

"Gods, I wonder as to why _that_ would be..."

Frederick then released his grasp of her shoulders, and looked away awkwardly. "We'll have to make sure that everyone believes our act… They'll be expecting something come tonight's supper, I am sure..."

"Then how? I'm not exactly a good actress, for gods' sake!" Robin began pacing back and forth, wiping the sweat off her brow as she did so… And then she froze. "They would be expecting us… To… Argh! Gods, they'd be wanting us to kiss, wouldn't they?! Why would I kiss the one man that I hate more than anything?!"

Frederick growled, before approaching where she was stood still and making her turn to face him. "They won't find it convincing if you act like this though, would they?! You're just going to have to put on a face and keep it on. There's no easy way around this, Robin, unless you're willing to allow us both to endure teasing until the day that we die."

"Then how, oh master of making kissing convincing, would I make it so, hmm?!"

"Like this."

Before she had a chance to react, his hands hand moved to her waist and he had pushed her back against the wall of his room. Robin looked as though she was about to shout at him for carrying out such a brash action, but that was enough to make him smirk before pressing his lips against hers. He didn't _want_ to admit to her that he _loved_ it when she got frustrated with him, especially with how stubborn she was when she was like that… But the way in which he was acting was probably enough to tell her that anyway.

Robin could feel her face heat up with those two simple actions, unsure of what to do back. From what she was aware, she had never been in any sort of relationship, so she wasn't sure on how to act as though she were in one… But there was one thing which she could definitely pick up on during this kiss…

His emotions… They felt genuine.

"Th- This is meant to be acting, Frederick-!"

"I know. But as we were saying… It has to be convincing."

She was beginning to feel her entire body heat up as he pulled her body closer to his, and she couldn't help but close her eyes and try to shake her head. It was so difficult trying to maintain her stubbornness. "I hate you, Frederick…. I hate you, I hate you, I _hate_ you, I-..." She felt the need to open her eyes again, and almost instantly, her wavering gaze met his. He looked… So happy. His eyebrows weren't furrowed as they usually were, and his facial features looked a lot more softened with the smile present on his face. "I… hate you. But… Gah, you're so frustrating!"

Slowly, Frederick moved one of his hands to behind her head, and moved his mouth closer to her ear. "That's the Robin I love… Both irritating and stubborn… So, so stubborn..."

* * *

That evening, Robin had attempted to sit on her own as she ate, but she hadn't even been sat down for a few minutes by the time that she had ended up with company. Much to her relief, it was just Lissa and Chrom. She failed to strike up any sort of conversation with them, but it was quite evident in her face that she was thankful for it being those two.

Chrom was the first one to speak out of the trio, and at the same time, he gave his friend a slight nudge in the arm. "Hey… Are you okay, Robin?… We've hardly seen you today, and we've been looking all over for you..." He looked concerned for her, but it was easy to tell that it was just his way of getting his older sister out of his mind. The redness around his eyes was enough of an indicator of that.

The tactician closed her eyes, and began to swirl the spoon which she had around in her soup. "I've… Been busy… Doing stuff. As usual." Her voice was very paced, and Lissa couldn't help but look at her with just as much concern as her brother. Robin went and opened her eyes a slight bit, before laughing quietly. "I… I need you two to keep a secret..." She whispered, the full intention being that the Ylissean princess would end up telling everyone else.

"What is it? It's looking as though it's bothering you." Chrom placed his hand upon Robin's shoulder, and moved a seat closer to her as she began to take a few very deep breaths. "Don't tell us if it's worrying you though."

"No, I need to tell somebody…" She then dropped her spoon, and started digging her nails into her legs. "I get that it may be a bad time to say this… But… We're- Uh… Well, me and Frederick, we-" She went red in the face, and had began spluttering. After spending the afternoon together, Robin couldn't help but feel conflicted. Was she acting… Or wasn't she? She didn't know any more.

It was such a relief when the knight ended up showing up, and sat down in the other available seat beside her. He was aware that she was going along with the plan, but seeing her worrying made him continue speaking for her. "Are you telling them that we are… romantically involved?" Frederick didn't seem to want to say the words 'in love', but the kiss which he made upon her cheek was more than enough to persuade the prince and princess.

Robin's face was a vivid red colour by then, and she was doing everything that she could to make sure that her eyes didn't meet anyone else's. The line between acting and reality was almost completely blurred by that point.

"What do you mean, 'it may be a bad time', Robin?! That's exactly what we need right now!" Lissa gasped, her sad face now being lit up with an almost new-found energy. "It's so good to have something like this happen, it'll lift everyone's spirits hearing about this!" And almost instantly she was on her feet, and off to tell everyone.

"Wait, Lissa-!" Chrom had tried to call his sister back, but to no avail. That had led to him sighing, ruffling Robin's hair a slight bit, before running after her.

Frederick sighed after that, before his hand gently took hold of her chin and made her face him. "It's too late to go back on the plan now… Everyone will be here in a minute, if the princess gets to them before milord gets to her… Are you sure about this?" There was the sound of a small commotion from nearby then, and Robin could only gulp.

Was she acting… Or wasn't she? After asking herself that a few times, she had her mind made up. As much as she wished that she were acting… Wished that _they_ were acting… He wasn't, and he had admitted it himself. So she wouldn't either. "I hate you… But I love you too… Damn knight… After spending the afternoon with you, you've messed up my head, Frederick. After you revealed your feelings, whether by accident or not, my head has been going ten to the dozen… You're a devious man, even if you don't see it yourself..." And for the second time that day, their faces were within close vicinity to one another. Her hands carefully moved up to his face, her thumbs stroking his cheeks as she began to smile. His arms were wrapped around her waist almost as if she were a lifeline for him."Let's hope… That we survive these next few weeks… So long as we can continue to have our pointless little arguments, I'm sure that we can get along with each other swimmingly… Be it as part of a fleeting romance…" Robin closed the gap between their faces as their companions ran into the room, and she could feel his heart beating rapidly against her chest in those short few moments before they parted lips."Or as husband and wife, my dear..."

* * *

 **By the way... This is going to be a rather long story. I'm going to try and extend it out between this point and the start of the Valmese threat part of Awakening's storyline, so... Yeah!**


	4. Burning' passion

**Right, I'm back in university now, so my updates aren't going to be as often as they have been over the past week now... Thankfully, I've got back into the swing of writing though, so I should be able to update at least once or twice a week!**

* * *

"Um… Here. I guess… I feel as though I should give you this..." Robin awkwardly glanced down the hallway as she placed a key into Frederick's hand. "The spare key to my room… That way you don't have to wait until I'm almost naked to barge into my room, but rather at any time!" She had began to laugh hysterically just as she began meandering towards her room's door. "Just try not to walk in when I'm not wearing any clothes at all! Chances are I'd scream at you, and Cordelia and Sumia seem to have ears like a hawk when it comes to noises from my room..."

"Wait." Before she could open the door to her room, Frederick had took hold of her wrist. "I should at least do the same. This is the spare key to my room also. Should you need me, chances are, I shall be there. I have not been training as much as I normally do since we arrived here, so..." He then put on a smile, before kissing her cheek. "I'll be expecting some sort of witty remark in the morning to set off an argument, Robin."

"Now, who gave you the right to decide that _I_ had to be the one who starts off our little fights? I say that it should be _you_ who does." With that, the woman began to laugh as she went inside her room, especially due to the grumbling which she could hear afterwards. She presumed that he didn't even realise that her remark just then was the perfect way to do _exactly_ as he had requested. It was _bound_ to set off one of their silly arguments.

Moments later, she went to pull her coat off, but she winced when she just came into contact with her bare skin. Her distractions through the day had made her forget that her coat required washing of that ink stain upon it, and the same went with her blankets. The fact that it was starting to become late now also meant that it was starting to get much colder than it already was. Her coat she could cope without at night, but that was because she could have blankets… So without any covers… She would probably have some sort of illness by morning.

That directed her attention towards the key in her hand. Going to Frederick was a possibility… But she didn't want to come across to him as too eager. With that, she decided to lie down on her bed and growl quietly. "Damn ink..."

Robin never remembered falling asleep, but she could most definitely remember waking up. Nothing but warmth surrounded her body… It was nice. But… Why did she feel warm? With a small yawn, she opened her eyes and noticed that she actually did have blankets over her. And… An arm too.

She quietly reached for the arm, and gently prized the fingers from around her waist. The hand was of a familiar weight and size, and felt as though it belonged in her own hands. And then there was the cuts upon the knuckles. There was no doubt about it from then – Frederick was the owner of the arm draped over her. It made her feel both joyous and sheepish at the same time. Since when did they end up in the same bed together?

Once she had thought that, she brought herself around to opening her eyes properly. She wasn't in her room. That meant that… She had to be in his! Had he brought her here?! It was a relief to have her questions answered almost straight away, whether the knight had intended to or not. "It's good that you are are not feeling as cold now, Robin… I never expected you to show up at my door, dithering away. You seemed so tired also… I had no choice but to allow your invasion last night."

"I… I brought myself here?" She remained lying on her side facing away from him, not wanting to see his face just yet. "I can't remember… I have memories up to the point that I lay down in my bed..." She couldn't help but feel bad. He had labelled it as an 'invasion', so… It just made her feel horrible about the fact that she was there.

Upon pulling her hands close to her chest, she felt his other arm moving under her body and pulling her closer to him. "Do not let yourself worry, understand? I can tell that you are getting bothered about it." And then he made her turn to face him as he continued to embrace her. "Are we not… enamoured with one another? Because if we are, simply sharing a room or a bed for the night is not something to be bothered about." After that, he pressed his lips against hers without taking even a moment to think about it, sending her face bright red.

"G- Gods, you act as though having a lady in your b- bed is something that you are used to! H- Have you had a plethora of w- women in your bed in the past?! A- Are you secretly s- some sort of-?!"

Frederick was able to interrupt Robin rather abruptly, his lips acting like a pacifier for her before he began to speak. "No. You are the first, and I vow that you shall be the _only_ woman who may even dare lie within the same covers as I, and I swear upon my beating heart that I have had no sort of past with women other than that of a platonic nature." With that, he pressed his forehead against hers. "And… I suppose that now would be the appropriate time for me to say… I have known that deep down in my heart I have wanted to court you from that moment milord found you asleep in the midst of that field in Ylisse. My wariness prevented me from expressing that at any point until a few days ago, when you asked me if I trusted you..." Seeing the way that her face remained flushed once he had said that made him want to just remain there all day, and keep her by his side the whole time. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her. It felt… Euphoric. Never before had he felt this way towards anyone. "You are my one true love, Robin… My wonderful, hypocritical, annoying Robin…"

He had took into account what she had said the night before… ' _who_ _gave you the right to_ _decide that I had to be the one who starts off our little fights?'…_ And now he had decided that she was right. So, he would take the honours of setting her off.

"Hypocritical? Since when have _I_ been hypocritical?!"

"Last night. Were you honestly not aware of the fact that when you arrived here, I too was barely clothed like you the night before? And you spent a good few moments staring at me, just as I had done you? Of course, I had to stop you from looking at me to find out as to why you were so pale..."

She glanced up and down his body then, and awkwardly laughed. "I guess that is why you have very hastily threw on trousers?..." She sat up then, and stretched her arms. "You fit the scruffy look, to be honest… Stop being such a neat freak, Fre-der-ick." The way that she pronounced each of the syllables of his name felt almost teasing, so he could only respond with a sigh.

"I am not a neat freak, as you put it..."

"Oh, you are. You're nothing _but_ one!" And then she stood up. "I am going to see if there is something to eat..."

Before Robin could take a step towards the door, Frederick had took hold of her wrist tightly. "I _wouldn't_ go to eat like that, Robin." His eyes quickly scanned over her body, before he bit his lip. "Everyone is already hassling us enough over our relationship with one another, and going in dressed like that… They would get it in their minds that something more is happening within the confines of our rooms."

"What do you-?..." Then the tactician glanced down. "Your… shirt. I'm wearing your shirt." And then she almost screamed. "Why am I wearing your shirt?! What happened last night?! D- Don't tell me that we-?!" Before she could continue shouting any more, his hand had clamped over her mouth.

"When you came here… You were wearing your normal clothes. Because you were cold, I made you have a warm drink which you spilled over yourself. I had to get you to wear my shirt so that you would remove your own clothes before the spilled drink became cold."

"Anything else that also happened last night that you need to tell me?…"

"Need I go into your rather… Ahem… Vulgar suggestions made?..." The awkwardness present on Robin's face was enough to tell him that he should probably wait until a bit later before he went into those details, so he decided to say something else. "You have a spare set of clothes in your room, do you not? I could retrieve them for you, and bring them here. Though… I may need my shirt before I dare get them..."

She was relieved when he offered to do that for her, but then her face became flustered once again at him requesting his shirt. "Y- You'll be quick, right?..." Upon his nod, she sighed before forcing him into turning around as she began to unbutton the item of clothing. His scent was mostly embedded within its fibres, and though it was a strange smell – both metallic and leathery – she liked it a lot. Once she had shrugged the shirt off, she brought the material up to her nose and inhaled the smell one last time before turning around and passing him it. "Y- You better not have looked whilst I took it off!"

Frederick remained silent as he pulled it on, before casting her a small smile. "I'll be back in a minute. Wrap yourself up in my blankets if you so wish."

Once the door had closed behind him, Robin sat down on his bed and timidly looked at her body. He obviously saw _something_ in her, but… What? She knew that he wouldn't have been using her for sex, for if he were, he had already missed many an opportunity to get his way with her. They clashed quite a lot, and he had made it known that he _liked_ the arguing… But he couldn't have liked her just for that. She didn't consider herself as smart, but other people did. Could it have been that? What about her could he have possibly liked?! After spending a few minutes thinking about that, she moved her hands to between her thighs before shivers went through her body.

Then her mind wondered off more. Had she ever been in a relationship before?… Was this her first?… She was the first woman to share a bed with him… But she couldn't assure him of the same thing back. What if, before she had obtained her amnesia, she had been one of those women who constantly went between men?… That then led to her tangling her hands into her hair and giving off a frustrated scream, simply for the sake of getting those thoughts out of her mind.

It was such a relief when Frederick returned after that, bearing her normal attire. But before he could give it to her though, she stood up and began to cry. "Why… Why me?… Why not somebody else?… Sumia, Cordelia, Maribelle, or even Miriel would be better for you than me! Why me?..." Moments later, she had fell into his chest, making him drop her clothes in order to give her a reassuring hug.

"Because… You… You are the woman of my dreams. Ever since I was a child, I would say to my parents… If I ever fell in love with a woman, I want only one thing from her. For her to be herself around me. Not once did you hold back in expressing your opinion about me, unlike many others. They would try to talk positively about me, simply because of my role and closeness to Ylissean royalty. You would yell and try to slap me across the face when you had any form of dislike towards what I was saying or doing. And I see that as you being yourself… And that allows me to be myself too." And after running his hand through her hair a few times, he made her rest her head upon his shoulder.

"Brutally honest as always..." Robin chuckled, before raising an eyebrow at him. "And it seems… It's not just me being myself that you like too. Your body likes to be just as honest too~"

" _ **Robin!**_ " He awkwardly pushed her away then, and pointed towards her clothes. "What do you expect when you are flashing your cleavage off to me like that?! J- Just get dressed! Or I _will_ make you have to go through training today!"

* * *

Frederick gave a cold glare to everyone who was sat eating in the room, seeming as they were all looking between him and Robin eagerly. They were expecting one of them to get up and sit beside the other, but no. They remained at opposite sides of the room, hardly doing so much as gesturing towards each other. After the whole 'kissing the second that everyone walked in' situation, they had been eager for more.

Everything changed the second that Vaike decided to sit down beside the tactician, with it making Frederick growl and making Robin move a slight bit closer to her table. "What do you want, Vaike?…" The tactician took a quick bite into an apple which was in her hand, before giving the topless man a condescending look.

"H- Hey, Teach was just wanting to know if you were okay! I heard people talking about how you and good ol' Frederick were getting' down and dirty recently-"

Almost straight away, Robin dropped her apple and shot him a glare. "We became a couple _yesterday afternoon._ For gods' sake! There's not a damn chance that we would even consider doing something such as that so soon!" And with that, she stood up and walked out of the room. Of course, that was not before she grabbed Chrom by the collar and pulled him out with her.

All that Frederick could do was stare daggers at Vaike, for sending Robin into such a foul mood. He would have liked it if he had been able to take that seat beside her, but that would have led to things being just as bad but for different reasons. What made him even more angrier was the fact that Vaike seemed to hold no remorse, and had gone off to a different table to laugh with some others.

Finishing his food at the same time as muttering under his breath, he quickly rose to his feet and marched out of the room, ignoring completely the looks that people were giving him and the calls which they were making for his attention. Why should he have to pay them any respect if they neglected to do the same back? Once outside, he could hear sobbing from nearby.

"They won't listen to us, Chrom… They'll listen to you! Besides, me and Frederick weren't even a thing until yesterday afternoon! We were planning on acting to get them to leave us alone, but this isn't even an act any more! We genuinely do like each other, but we can hardly express it in front of that group of idiots! Even if we didn't become a couple, they would still be hassling us!"

"Robin… I'll try to have a work with them, but there's no guarantees that they will stop… Maybe if we leave to return to Plegia tomorrow morning, and I tell them that, they might get distracted from you..."

"Ah… Please… Oh, and speaking of Plegia, I don't think that I..." Frederick couldn't hear any more of the conversation, as he presumed that Robin had started walking elsewhere with Chrom to discuss tactics. Good… She was doing what she could to keep herself distracted now… That made him smile, even though it was only a small one. Perhaps he should try to do what he could in order to provide himself with a distraction. Yes.

He _had_ noticed a large stain upon her coat and blankets previously… Maybe he could wash them for her, and hand them over to her come that afternoon… Yes, he could do that… It would take about an hour to get stains such as that out of them, and about a further hour, perhaps longer to dry them… After thinking about that, he began to wonder towards her room, remembering that she had given him a spare key. At least he were to be doing something which could make her smile…

* * *

Things had taken a horrible turn through that day. Despite Chrom doing as he said he would, everyone else knew that he was doing that for the sake of distracting them all. The teasing and taunting had become too much for the tactician in just a matter of hours, and because of that, she had stormed out the barracks into the snow. Nobody had any idea on where she had gone, or what she was doing.

But she knew.

There was a village somewhat local, so she had decided to visit it for the sake of seeing something which was more… normal to what she had grew used to. It was a nice, quaint place, possessing a small marketplace which she had decided to stroll through. The folks were kind too, with them recognising that Robin was an outsider, and assisting her whenever she had ended up lost or confused.

 _If only things were like this in the Shepherds…_

"Oh, my thanks..." Robin smiled as a small child had noticed her coat and had complimented her on it. "You look just as wonderful with your own coat too. It looks all warm and comfortable!"

"It is! It snows a lot here so this is good!" The child gave her a small grin, before running off to his parents who were stood in a doorway nearby. "Bye, lady! Don't get caught in the snow!"

"Haha, I won't!" The tactician waved as she began to walk away then, before pulling her coat around herself tightly. She was so relieved that Frederick had cleaned it for her… The feel of the material made her just want to wind down and relax. It was just a shame that she couldn't do that back at the barracks…

Once again looking around the market's stalls, one of them was able to catch her eyes with minimal effort. It was selling books, and they all seemed _very_ interesting, just looking at the covers. One question rang through her head though. Did she have money? What a relief it was to reach into a pocket inside her coat to feel some money in there… But there was also some paper too. Robin was quick to pull it out, and she could only smile when she read the words write upon it.

' _This is to make up for not staying with you this morning as you ate. I would have stopped Vaike if it had meant that you wouldn't have cried afterwards.'_

"How did Frederick know that I-?… He must have walked out not long after I did..." She then tucked the paper back into her pocket, before sighing. As much as she appreciated the gift… She didn't want him to go about doing things such as this any time she got upset. Then she laughed. That was something she could pick a fight about later.

Before she could do anything else though, she began to small something… Strange. No, not just strange… But familiar too. There was definitely the smell of something burning, but… "Risen." That smell was one of the most recognisable to her. It was just like that night in the forest, when she had just met Chrom, Lissa and Frederick…

Then there were screams from people, and the deep moans from the vile, undead creatures… She was unarmed, but… If she went back to the barracks for help, it would be too late, and the village would have been destroyed by the time that she got back…

 _Think, Robin! Think!_

It took her a few moments to come up with a plan, which was rather annoying, considering that she had to come up with it quickly. Flames were starting to become visible in the distance, and everything around her was beginning to get frantic. "Ah, crap! Was there?… Yes, there was!" If she sprinted as fast as she could, there was a blacksmith only about twenty seconds away… It's just that there was now a lot of people around her, trying to get away from both the Risen and the fire.

Then she got a _better_ idea.

"Sorry, I'll return these in a second!" She shouted, grabbing hold of a large metal pot and a ladle from a nearby stall. If she could get everyone's attention… She could get them to safety by directing them towards the barracks! And when her allies notice the population of an entire village fleeing there… They could come and assist her in stopping the spread of the risen and the fire!

It took about thirty seconds to get the attention of the people, and she could only sigh with relief when they did as she requested. It _was_ why she was known as the best tactician in Ylisse, after all. A few people were aware of that fact, so it didn't take much for the compliance.

Then, that left her alone with a few dozen Risen and a ticking timebomb with the village burning down. The risen she could probably deal with. It was practically her against the smoke. "Gods, let's hope that the others get here quickly… If I succumb to the fire… How will they cope against Gangrel?… Not that I'll let that happen, heh… I've got a fight to pick with my annoying beloved, and I intend on that happening today!"

* * *

"Milord! What's going on?!" Frederick was confused as to why there were so many people present in the barracks, ranging from the elderly to the newly born. "You can hardly navigate around! There seems to be the population of an entire village present!" But that was the least of his worries at that moment in time… Could Robin be amongst these people? He hadn't seen her properly since that morning...

Chrom bit his lip, and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm trying to find out now… I've heard mentions of something 'horrible' happen, but I don't know what it is..." Moments after that, Chrom quickly had to step forward as a few children ran past him from behind, almost trampling on his cloak. "Gods… We _really_ need to find out what is going on!"

Before either Chrom or Frederick could go about asking, Libra was quick to approach the two. He seemed to be aware of what had happened. "The people… They claim to have been directed here by a woman who they didn't know, with all that they could describe her as being 'a white haired woman donning a large coat'…"

" _Robin."_


	5. An arrow in the leg

**My god, I don't know how this chapter has ended up, in all honesty. I've just been writing this in _very_ small segments over the past few weeks because of an essay I've had to write for uni... Uhm... I hope it's okay!**

* * *

"Here…" Frederick put on a gentle smile as he stroked his thumb over Robin's cheek, trying to rub off some of the soot which had ended up on it. "You were lucky not to have put yourself in too much danger… Please, don't do something like that again..." With a concerned frown forming on his face, he pulled her close to his body for a hug. Never had he expected her to remain in the soon to be almost completely destroyed village, especially on her own. Let alone with a mass of risen, which could easily have overpowered her through their sheer numbers.

Robin closed her eyes, before giving off a slightly chesty cough. It was true that the smoke had an impact upon her, but thankfully not a life-changing one. "I wasn't in too much danger… I mean, you and Chrom got to the village rather quickly..." She then put on a small smile in order to assure him, before resting her head on his chest. "And the risen… They were hardly a big deal. Hardly have been as of late..."

Following that, things remained silent between the two for a while, with neither of them willing to say anything much. People had noticed how, since they had returned to the barracks with Chrom and the few other Shepherds who had gone to help with the situation, Robin was in a rather bad state from the fire – much worse than she was at present. She would have avoided even being there when it had started if it hadn't have been for their teasing, so they had decided to stop speaking about the couple… At least when they were nearby.

"Frederick… By the way… I have something to tell you..." The tactician whispered, her eyes looking half open and her voice sounding weary. The day had wore her out, to say the least. "But… Maybe I'll tell you once I have had a short nap… Or maybe after I've slept for the night..."

"But we leave for Plegia in the morning..."

A quick glance was cast up towards him, and she shook her head. "Well, I'll tell you as we… move… Damn knight..." She continued to grumble under her breath, using what was now her primary nickname for the man besides 'Freddy bear' (only used when she was in a particularly cuddly mood), before she finally settled down and fell asleep upon him. It was a relief that she was sat on his lap at that point in time, as it meant that she wouldn't fall down and hurt herself any more than she had been recently.

The bandage upon her arm from when fighting in Plegia made him want to growl ever time that he seen it, because it was his fault that she had decided to fight on her own. Scratch that, it was their arguing which had made her want to do that. If he had just done what he had finally brought himself around into doing, and allowed himself and not his wariness to decide upon whether he trusted her… Perhaps things would have ended up being different. Maybe… She wouldn't have been hurt. Perhaps… She would have fell for somebody else.

But then that thought made him feel as though he had been stabbed through the chest. Just the mere thought of Robin being happy with another man or woman… Someone else getting to admire her delicate features and cheerful smile when she was happy…

It made him take a tighter grasp of her, just to make sure that she stayed with him. "Stupid woman… I hate that you make me feel this way… You deserve to be happy no matter what."

* * *

"Right… Our intelligence does seem to suggest that this is the general direction in which Gangrel went a few days ago with his remaining loyal soldiers… It seems as though we are the ones who have backed him into a corner, not the other way around as we first assumed." Robin stated, pointing to a specific location upon a map of the local area. She was trying to come up with a plan, but this time, she was doing it alongside her companions. It felt strange, but it was something that she could get used to. "We have reason to believe that his soldiers are distributed around this general area. Some hiding inside forts, others amongst these trees, and then a few that are just out in the open. A typical set-up for an ambush. We're going to have to make sure that we remain in groups."

"The question remains on as to who goes for Gangrel though..."

The tactician nodded as she looked at the prince, before her eyes were suddenly cast downwards. "I know, Chrom… You're going to be heading that group for sure though. I think that you're going to need people who are strong or fast on their feet, preferably both... Perhaps… Anna, Gaius, Libra and, uh... Frederick?..." She desperately wanted the knight to stay by her side in battle, for the reassurance that he would be safe. There was almost no doubt in her mind that he felt the same about her. The thing is… That could compromise the entire battle… That, and they'd probably find a way to argue over something or another, considering that it was almost a basis of their relationship.

Almost straight away, Chrom became aware of the cracks in her voice and he could only take hold of her arms. "Come on, we can't afford to have you falter now, Robin. After tomorrow, this will all be over, and-"

Lissa was quick to interrupt Chrom's assurances, and made Robin's mood a lot worse than it currently was. "And then you and Frederick can finally get a room!"

"I thought that we were _over_ this, Lissa! Gods damn it! So what, I like Frederick and he likes me back?! It's not as though it is news of the century!" Quickly, she rose to her feet and slammed her fist down upon the table.

"It's _Frederick_ we're talking about. Everyone was assuming that the chances of him falling in love are as likely as Chrom noticing Cordelia's constant swooning over him!"

Of course, the prince was oblivious to that remark and trying to block out the current conversation. He too was sick to death of the dwelling over his friends' relationship. His focus was still upon Robin's plan, and he was reading some notes which she had taken down upon a few scrap pieces of parchment. Once things had began to calm down, he finally decided to involve himself again. "A Levin sword… That means that we're going to be dealing with magic alongside a sword fight, right?"

The tactician's fixated glare upon the princess began to waver once she had heard Chrom speak, so she nodded. "Yes… Gangrel is most commonly seen with one of those swords, so there is almost no doubt about it. Why, is there something bothering you about it?" She then brought herself around into taking a seat again, and glanced over her notes with Chrom.

"Wouldn't that mean… We'll need a magic user with us too? Just to get us closer to him?"

She hadn't thought about that up until he had mentioned it. "Perhaps… But it can't be me, if that is what you're about to suggest. Having me and Frederick near each other in combat, especially in a battle of such importance, could possibly result in jeopardizing all of our work so far." Once she had finished speaking, all that she could notice was the look of surprise upon the prince's face. Stahl's face-reading lessons _had_ come in handy for once. "Perhaps Miriel would be ideal, she is much more proficient in magic than myself."

"Fine, if you think so. You _are_ the tactician, after all."

* * *

Frederick wasn't sure on as to what was going on. His vision was hazy, his body heavy. He last remembered being in the middle of a fight, and now… He just wasn't sure. A throbbing pain in his leg was also present, with that being the only thing that he could truly feel.

To the best of his ability, in order to shield what was left of his eyesight from the Plegian sun, he pulled his hand up to his face and attempted to look at both himself and his surroundings. What caught his eyes was not exactly… the best of things to see in the current situation. An arrow, lodged right into his leg… No wonder pain was the only thing that he could feel, being injured in such a way. Judging by how deep the arrow was lodged in though, a lot of blood must have been lost, or he had only lost a bit of blood, and pulling the arrow out would cause a horrific blood loss… One thing he felt definite about though - he must have been close to death…

As he thought that, his arm went and fell limply into the sand and he had to close his eyes just so that he didn't have to endure the light. After that, he had but one thought. Robin wanted to return to Ylisse with him… Not return to Ylisse with his body. So much for everything over the past few days…

At the same time as that was happening, the Shepherds were gathering a bit further south, seeming as the Plegians had been defeated, and Gangrel had been killed.

"It only looks as though we're few down..." Chrom muttered, forlornly looking around at everyone there. It was known that a few casualties had occurred, one of which being Anna getting caught out by arrows in the same attack which had injured Frederick, and death did not even spare the young, with Ricken being stabbed mid-spell. "Perhaps… We should start making our way back to Ylisse… This seems to be all of the people that we are going to-"

"No!" The prince's suggestion was quick to be cut off by a hysterical tactician. "That stupid knight isn't here! H- He promised me that he would be! He said that he would stay with me on the way back to Ylisse! I need _somebody_ to help me keep my damn temper at bay, and Frederick is the only person who can!" Before she could even dare lash out in any way, Sully and Kellam were quick to grab her arms and keep her still. "Let go of me! At least let me try to find him!"

Seeing Robin in such a state upset many of her allies, especially considering that it was her tactics which had won the war. It was more than obvious that she was in complete denial over anything happening to Frederick, and that made some of them feel dreadful. All of that pressure which they placed upon her, leading to her actually ending up in a relationship...Just for it to be snatched away less than a mere three days later…

It led to them making a decision which surprised a few – they went to try and find Frederick for her sake. They wanted to at least make amends over the upset which they had caused her recently. Few remained behind to try and calm Robin down the best that they could.

"Chrom…" Feeling Robin's arms fall limp made the two holding her still let her go, and seconds later, she fell to her knees. "What do I do if he… If he actually did die?… I… I honestly can't think of my future without him…" The tactician then closed her eyes, and pulled her coat around herself tightly. "It may have seemed as though we both hated each other so much… But those silly fights, those stupid arguments… They made us both feel so strange… It made us… I guess… Like each other more… Brutal honesty is what I said it was to him the other day..."

Tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes then, and that made Chrom sit down in front of her and place his hand upon her shoulder. "Robin… Have you noticed something?..."

"H- Huh?… Noticed… What?..."

"Look around. Almost nobody is here… They've all gone to-"

"Y- Yeah, they've probably gone back to Ylisse-"

Chrom shook hid head, before making her stand back up. "No. Sumia spoke to me before they left… Seeing you upset over him made them feel guilty for teasing you so much over your relationship, considering that it has only been a few days. They're trying to find him for you."

That made her eyes grow wide, before she began to cry even more. "Chrom, y- you've got to be kidding-"

"I'm not. Do you want to try and catch up to them?..."

"Y- Yeah..."

* * *

That night, Robin was sat in one of the tents in the Shepherds' makeshift camp, trying to hold back tears as she pulled blankets around herself. She hated the bitterness of Plegia at night, especially when knowing that she couldn't have Frederick by her side. He was lying before her, his body cold and mostly motionless, the only movements being slight adjustments of his arms and legs as he slept, and the rise and fall of his chest. It was a relief for her that he was alive, but knowing that the situation could go any way is what scared her. Frederick could die at any given moment if he didn't wake up soon...

What made her happy though, despite the situation, was that he was only just conscious once she had met up with the others who had found him. She was able to hug him, and beg him to stay alive… And he had said the most reassuring words she had heard that day. "Robin… _I promise… I'll try to stay alive… For you. I promise..."_

Slowly, she moved the blankets which were covering him, and looked at the tightly wrapped bandage which was covering a few hastily provided stitches on his leg. "Frederick… You idiot… You stupid, reckless idiot… I knew I should have stayed with you in that battle..." After that, her fingers trailed the bandage as she began to sob. "You damn knight… Why did you do this to me?!"

Upon hearing her sobs, Lissa, who was walking past at the time, peered into the tent and frowned at Robin. "Hey… Are you okay?" Quickly, she moved to the tactician's side. "Do you want anything, Robin?..." Her offer, for once, was purely out of a desire to help out her friend, not to pull some sort of nonsensical trick upon her. It was painful to see her in such a state, as it was bad enough hearing Chrom mourning over Emmeryn at night.

With a face drenched with tears, Robin forced on a smile as she looked at the Ylissean princess. "I'm fine, it's just that… I want him to wake up, even if it were for a few moments..." With a deep sigh, she then pulled the blankets back over Frederick, before laughing quietly. "Just this morning… He was doting over me, asking if I would cope okay when fighting after yesterday's events… And now…He's the one in a bad state because of the battle… Not me..."

Hearing the wavering tone of her voice, Lissa pulled another chair from the tent to beside Robin's, and smiled at her. "You know… I hope that he recovers quickly too. You deserve to be happy with him!" She paused for a moment, before her smile became a wide grin. "Do you reckon that you would ever get married?"

Robin's face went rosy once the suggestion of her and Frederick being married came up. "I… don't know… I mean, if he recovers… It could be a possibility… I would love to marry him, but it depends on what he wants..." Seeing the cheerful look on Lissa's face, Robin continued. "Don't worry, I'll see if you could be a bridesmaid if we ever do..." Lissa nodded at her response initial response, her eyes lighting up at the second part. Moments later, she started looking at Robin smiling, fantasising over a hypothetical future. "And… I would really like to have the experience of being as part of a family…"

"Are you suggesting that you want to-?!"

"Yes… I'd love to have a child with him at some point..."

The pair were awake for most of that night after that, talking about what they both wanted for the future, and about happy memories which they possessed. Lissa, when she wasn't pranking her, was actually really good company to talk to. The highlight of the conversation was absolutely hilarious to Robin though. Lissa had mentioned that she actually adored Gaius, and wanted to get to know him more, and possibly even have some sort of relationship with him. At that, cue Gaius, bringing Robin a drink of hot chocolate (half of which having gone missing upon the journey to the tent). He was quick to drop the drink on the floor, and stumble back out, his face redder than the red liquorice which he had somehow ended up with when in Ferox.

Early afternoon the next day was when Robin woke up, and she could hear voices as she kept her eyes mostly closed. "She was so happy! It was nice to see her like that! I mean, you could almost literally see the sparkles in her eyes when we brought up things like her getting married, or having kids!" That was definitely Lissa, considering that she was the only one who she had discussed such topics with. But the next voice made her eyes open a slight bit more than they were.

"Children?… Gods, not yet… You better not have got her hopes up, princess..."

"I think she was talking about in a few years, not _now,_ Frederick! And stop stressing yourself, you'll fall unconscious again! You were lucky that you didn't lose too much blood yesterday!"

"I know, I have already had lady Maribelle give me an almost identical lecture this morning..."

As the two continued, Robin finally opened her eyes and properly sat up, and tears sprung to her eyes yet again. "F- Frederick..." Seconds later, she had almost dove at him, sobbing as though there was no tomorrow, taking hold of him as tight as she possibly could.

Then came the shrill cry.

" _ **You**_ _**damn knight! Don't make me worry like that again!"**_


	6. Proposals and loving sessions

**Well, uh, I guess that I have finally got around into updating this!**

 **Just so you all know, there is going to be quite a juicy bit through quite a bit of the chapter, so... uh... yeah. I'm trying to get better at writing sex scenes, but... I'm honestly not sure on how it is.**

 **Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Frederick sighed as he stroked Robin's hair as she wept, her face buried into his shoulder. It was all that she had done since she had woke up and noticed that he was no longer unconscious, and it seemed like all that she was going to do for the time being. "F- Frederick… I was scared that… That I'd lost you… I hate you for making me feel scared like that!" She whispered, her voice wavering more than he had ever heard it before. Alongside that, she had shakily punched his arm. "But… A- At the same time… I'm so glad that you're here..."

All that he could think of was that this was another strange twist in their relationship… In a matter of weeks, having things go from yelling at one another to being practically inseparable… It was mysterious how love worked, especially in their case… It didn't help that their individual duties had been keeping them from knowing their actual feelings up until now…

"Robin, you don't need to shed tears over me, you know." He gave her a small smile, but received a small glare.

"After all of the _shit_ you put me through yesterday, why shouldn't I?! Even Chrom can be witness to that, he was there as I sobbed and _sobbed_ over you!" But then, despite the way that she had slight hints of hostility in her voice, she began laughing as she wept. "But then again… I should have known that you're far too stubborn to die..."

The two remained silent for a good few minutes, with it being at least fifteen minutes before Frederick went and did something which he had been explicitly ordered by Maribelle not to do earlier that day, and pulled Robin onto his lap. Of course… Robin had been asleep then. He was aware that she never knew that, and decided that she did not need to know… It had most definitely caught her by surprise, and it brought a small blush to her face, seeming as she had almost completely calmed down by that point. "You know, Robin… You look your best when you are happy. It makes me feel ever so… joyful."

Hearing the usually stoic man say that in such a way… "And what makes you say that… Frederick?..." She had been so tempted to say 'you damn knight' as she usually would have, but had decided that now wasn't the best time to say that. "Are you trying to say something?..."

He remained silent as he embraced her after that, before she felt his warm breath against her neck. It was definitely one of the most intimate embraces that they had in the few days which they had been a couple, but… something felt… different this time. He was much more fidgety, but she put that down to the fact that he had ended up ignoring his injury in order to hug her…

Moments later, she felt him move a slight bit, as though he were… gulping. "Are you… worried about something, Frederick? Please, tell me if you are, because… Well, it annoys me seeing you worried." And then, she felt his embrace grow tighter. "Fred-?!"

Never had she expected him to burst into tears. He wasn't the sort of person to cry, but… There he was, not even so much as an attempt to stop the tears. "I was so worried, Robin… Worried that I had left you alone… Without you having the chance to know what it was like to truly belong..." And then, she felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere as she heard a small, satisfied sigh down her ear. "Robin… Though we may have our differences, which we tend to show in a rather... _vocal_ way… And despite that, we have been able to maintain a wonderful relationship… So I want to know… Once we have returned to Ylisse, and recovered from this war…" Robin could feel his heart beating more than before… It seemed almost… _frantic. "_ I want to know if you would be willing to be my… beloved." He waited to see Robin's face turn red before he continued with a small smile on his face. "My wife..."

She could only stutter for a few moments, before pushing Frederick in the chest with the palm of her hand. "You _idiot..."_ And then came her tears. "You didn't even need to ask… I would marry you no matter what..."

Frederick began to cry even more then, but more through relief than anything. Once he had calmed down though, he came out with a remark which sent the tactician redder than she ever had been before. "It looks as though one of your little fantasies are going to be fulfilled… Though don't think about trying to push me for children, at least not yet… Unless, of course, you're _that_ desperate..."

"I- I am _not_! Y- You damn knight!"

* * *

It was over a month after the end of the war, and steadily, things were starting to calm down somewhat in Ylisse. People were returning to their normal lives, the Shepherds being no exception… Except Robin. She was still finding it hard to adjust to normal life because of being just far too used to fighting, seeming as that had been what most of her current memories were.

As she sat leaning against a tree, fiddling with the ring upon her finger. It was only an engagement ring... Frederick had ended up purchasing it for her without her knowledge as soon as he was told that his injury had recovered enough to walk without any sort of support… but… she felt guilty about it. It was _expensive_ , as she had accidentally stumbled upon a receipt for it… Not long after that she had lectured him on getting her lavish, expensive things.

It had never stopped him though. Her new outfit was evidence of that. She had kept her coat, but otherwise, all of her clothes were new. Never had she wore a dress before, but… She actually quite liked it. As she moved her attention to the material of the dress, she then felt a hand upon her shoulder. It took her a small glance to her side to realise that it was Frederick who had sat down beside her.

"Let me guess… Chrom stopped you from doing chores, hmm?"

"Ah… Yes." Robin was quick to laugh at his response, before she moved her hand to take hold of his. "Perhaps he stopped me because it is such a nice day… Don't you agree?"

The tactician nodded, just as her fingers laced around his. She could feel the cold of his identical ring upon his hand, and that brought a warming smile onto her face. "Of course, that may not be the reason why. I mean… I've been sat out here for… Only the gods know how long… And maybe he saw me alone." Following that, she then turned herself around to face him, before leaning in to kiss him.

"So, guilt tripping a royal into getting your own way? I have to say, Robin, that is frowned upon-"

" _Frederick! Gods!_ I did _not_ guilt trip Chrom! I was just saying that him seeing me alone could have been a possibility!"

"Your voice suggests otherwise-!"

"I highly doubt that-!"

"Robin, you know -!

"Oh, just shush already!" Robin was quick to bring their little fight to a halt by kissing him again, resting her hands on his chest and pushing him down into the grass. "You're a tease, Frederick..." Afterwards, he put his arms over her back and pulled her down onto him.

"As are you..." He laughed, hearing her muttering under her breath as he kept her held in place.

For a few moments, the two remained lay down in the grass, Robin occasionally poking Frederick, and Frederick doing what he could to keep her still. Neither of the two wanted the moment to end, but Robin had ended up falling asleep...

When she woke up, she found herself under a blanket, sat upon Frederick's lap with his arms around her. He was definitely awake, just not aware of her being awake. They had to be in his room, seeming as she noticed some of his armour stored in the corner.

It took her a few moments into bringing herself around to taking hold of his hands, and at that, he pulled her closer to him. "Good evening, my dearest… You took your time sleeping..." She could only grin in response to him saying that, before tilting her head back to show him that she was grinning. "And you seem to be in a good mood."

Robin then laughed, and stretched her legs a slight bit, her memories of a dream still running through her head. "Well, let's just say… I had a nice dream."

"A nice dream? And what was it about?"

She quickly moved his hands, before moving to sit next to him and staring up at the ceiling. "Us." And then, she closed her eyes. "And…" Her smile became even wider after that. "We were sat in here, like we are now… But then..." Her cheeks were bright red. "You did some _wonderful_ things to me..."

Frederick rolled his eyes then, seeming as her eyes were closed. Over mere weeks she had gone from yelling at him to having fantasies about him. And just looking at her face, and the sheer joy she had upon it… They were almost definitely sexual ones. How… humiliating.

Moments later, her eyes opened again, and she could only smirk. He had never noticed his own face heating up… "Just how _'_ wonderful' was it?" He then muttered, almost monotonously.

She was confused as to why he was asking a thing, but answered it anyway. "It felt almost… real." Then she figured it out. He didn't even realise it himself, but he was _jealous_ of himself in her dream.

Moments later, he had took hold of her wrists, and was trying to avoid eye-contact with her. "How can you say that it feels 'almost real' if you have never experienced it before though?"

"What are you getting at?..."

Frederick then gave off a deep laugh, before pulling her back onto his lap. "How about you say whether your little fantasy feels real or not _after_ you experience it for real?" Following that, he released his grasp of her, and placed one hand upon her waist and another behind her head as he pulled her in close to him for a gentle kiss. "I was going to wait until after we got married before I asked you whether we could do this, but quite obviously, neither of us have the patience, with your dreams and my desperation..."

"I am not impatient..."

"Yes you are, and don't do not deny it, Robin..." He then kissed her again, but that time, she felt his tongue brush over her lips. Gods, he really _was_ going all out with this…

In response to that though, Robin went and rested her hands upon his chest, her nails almost digging in as he pushed her down onto the bed, moving his other hand to her waist. Slowly, he ended up moving his other hand to her waist also as his lips tried to keep her more than just distracted.

"You're such a… bastard, you know that, right?"

"Save your foul mouth for later, Robin..."

"I'll use my 'foul moth' whenever I damn well feel like it-!" Robin froze when she felt his warm breath against her ear, before mumbling quietly. "You damn knight..."

"I'm not a 'damn knight'… At least at the moment..." She wasn't even looking at his face, but she could tell that he had smirked because of the nasal breath which had followed him speaking. "I'm just… Frederick, your lover, not 'Frederick, the damn knight'..."

She tried to come up with some sort of retaliation, but could only make some sort of frustrated grumble before blurting something which… well, turned Frederick's face an even brighter shade of red as he simply thought about it. "N- No… You're Frederick, the damn knight… Wh- who is _also_ my lover… And is probably going to fuck me practically senseless, he's that determined wh- when it comes to treating me..."

He now felt incapable of coming up with a response that time… But it was true though. He was _more than_ determined when it came to seeing Robin so happy, so delighted… So… Lustful, he supposed.

In that one moment of weakness, Robin had pushed him down into the bed and was smirking as her fingers circled around the highest button of his shirt. His mouth was agape – she was conniving against him. And she _claimed_ not to be impatient. "This is why… You don't tease a tactician. This is payback for when we were outside before!" That _giggle_ that followed though… The fact that she put on such a cheeky grin as she pulled the straps of her outfit off her shoulders... Gods, it just made him feel so… so desperate to pull her down onto him and just have his way!

"R- Robin, you-" He tried to speak, but couldn't get his words out right. It made her laugh once more – he was just _too_ adorable when he didn't know how to respond. The same went with their many arguments in the past…

After that, she was able to make his urges just too much for him to cope with, simply by sitting on his lap. " _Somebody_ is having fun, _aren't_ they, Frederick?" Following that, she let out a longing sigh. "It's probably not a good idea to, um… tease like this for too long, is it?… I mean, gosh, Frederick… Your face looks like it's about to just-!"

Frederick had pulled her down, and had ended up pulling her into another kiss, which had much more passion than any before it. He did, however, speak in a rather hushed manner as he kept his lips against hers. "Clothes. Robin… Would you mind if we… took off our clothes?..."

Hearing him say that, her face turned a luminous shade of red as her breathing became a bit heavier. All that she could respond with was a short nod, because her mind was elsewhere. This was just like her dream, just… better. The pure emotions which were going through her head in the fantasy were practically _nothing_ compared to what she was feeling now. Her mind felt so flustered, and she could barely collect her thoughts. And then… The physical side of things were much better too… The warmth in her abdomen was so _intense,_ and her heart was beating so fast…

 _How did Frederick manage to make her feel like this?! They had barely done anything but teasing up until that point!_

Moments later, she felt his cold hands resting upon her thighs, and that snapped her back to reality. "Robin?… Are you okay?..." Whilst she was in a daze, he had taken off his shirt, and her dress… He was now sat there in his trousers, and she was sat _on_ him wearing nothing but her… It made her squeal, and throw herself at him in a tight hug. She was still feeling rather self-conscious like she had done that morning where she had woke up wearing his shirt…

Frederick then laughed, and trailed his fingers over her back. "Remember that time in Ferox, where I had unintentionally pressed you against a wall whilst you were in a state like this?… Where is that Robin, hmm?"

" _That_ Robin was persuaded that you were going to hold me as your prisoner, not do any sort of sexual deed… _This_ Robin… _This_ Robin is anxious, because… I am one-hundred percent sure that this is the first time which I have done anything like this..." And then she moved one of her hands to behind her back to take hold of one of his. Then… She took a deep breath and moved him closer to the material which was keeping her chest concealed. "And this Robin… Also wants to feel as though she is in heaven, all thanks to the one man who she has ever loved..." Then came the nod which assured them both. "There's no going back now, I can tell by a certain… well… I think that you already know..." She smirked, separating herself from him slightly as she then poked his crotch at the exact same moment which Frederick had managed to do what she had directed him to do. "I can feel it, you know… Right against my leg."

Frederick could only smirk at that, before he let her hair loose from its ties. "You should have your hair down more often… It's pretty, Robin..." He then managed to make the most of her humility, and manage to push her down onto the bed and was able to tower over her. "But I bet… You're even prettier without _any_ of your clothes on..."

Her face turned red once again, before shaking her head. "Let me get used to th- the fact that you can see my chest first… _Then_ no clothes..." She then laughed, before her hands moved to his trousers. "I bet _you're_ handsome without clothes..."

"Scarred, more like."

"As I said – handsome." Before she could even dare try to pull his trousers down though, he took hold of her hands and brought them to her chest. "And _you_ are teasing again!" She gave off a small yet desperate moan then, and he felt his face heat up at that. She was getting more and more… Gods, there was just no word to describe her perfectly right now; the closest he could get was 'wonderful', but that was _barely_ touching it.

Then there was when he just decided to just squeeze, just a _slight_ bit. Her hands had tensed up, and she bit her lip. "You don't like that?..."

"N- No, that's far from the truth! It's just that… You're so..." She never finished her sentence, but did respond with a smile after that. Moments later though, she pulled her hands free and moved her mouth close to his ear. "Do _more_ of that… And _then_ you can get yourself between my legs, because I can tell that is what you _really_ want..."

* * *

"Chrom! Did you do it?" Lissa was quick to run over to her brother just as he had decided to stop having a brief training session in the castle. "Are they together at the moment?!"

"They… Should be. I saw them together on the courtyard before, laughing with each other…"

"… Say… Do you reckon that Gaius' plan will work?"

"I hope it does..."

They were discussing a very particular plan which Gaius had come up with a few days before, in regards to what was possibly the most important and most discussed relationship in the Shepherds still – the engagement of Robin and Frederick. They had noticed very quickly the rings which had appeared upon their hands once Frederick could walk, and they noticed almost as quickly the fact that the two had been getting very intimate _very_ fast around the castle. Of course, that was also the problem. They were around the castle.

People were actually growing sick of seeing all the kissing, and hugging, and all the whispering and giggling. It was actually becoming very frustrating. So, the plan was simple. Either get the two out into the town, or into one of their rooms by forcing whichever one that was meant to be doing duties around the castle (seeming as the two had decided to alternate days in which they carried out what were meant to be solely Frederick's duties) into taking the rest of the day off. Gaius was the one who had come up with the plan. And speaking of Gaius...

"Hey, Blue, Princess!" The candy thief bounded over to the pair, and briskly grabbed hold of their arms. "I think that it worked! I went past the knight's room, and heard both him and Bubbles in there! Of course, they were saying some pretty..." Gaius took a moment to smirk, before pushing Lissa away slightly. "This ain't for your ears, Princess, so I'm only telling your brother."

"H- Hey! I'm not a child!"

"Well, if you insist… One thing that I heard… Something about Bubbles having had a fantasy over something, and the knight was going on about allowing her to experience it for real… I think that those two are up to some dirty, dirty deeds in that room. At least they ain't doing the whole 'affectionate act' in public like normal, eh?"

The royal reactions were the opposite to what he had assumed they would be. Chrom was the one who had gone into a state of shock and was red at even thinking about it. Lissa was just smirking.

"It's about _time!_ Robin has been going on for the past few weeks about wanting children, so maybe this is it!"

"W- Wait, she has?! I haven't heard any of that!"

"Oh Chrom… You poor, oblivious little thing..."

"Lissa, _please."_

* * *

"A- Ah-!" Robin was a furious shade of red as she was clung to Frederick as though her life depended on it, her nails digging into his back. Just moments earlier, they had finally done what they were both most anxious about, and had managed to allow their bodies to join together. Both of them loved being as close as they ever could be to one another, but at the same time, nerves were taking over their bodies.

"Relax… Relax, Robin… I've got you… We don't have to do this if you don't want to..." His hands ran through her hair as her head rested in the nape of his neck, her breath warm against his cold skin. "Or is this just because this happens to be your first time at doing such a deed?…"

She shook her head at the first suggestion, but nodded at the second. The first time which she had ended up having sex… _outside_ of her dream-world, which she now realised was almost nowhere near the real one – these emotions she was feeling were far too strong. "You know, Frederick…" She waited until she had caught his full attention. "I hate you for making me fall in love with you… And for treating me so much..."

Frederick laughed rather anxiously, before pressing his head into her shoulder in a similar manner to what she was doing. "Likewise..." His voice was hushed, but at the same time, he sounded as though he was having… fun. _Frederick? Having_ _ **fun**_ _?_ The thought was almost inconceivable to Robin. But then again… He had been quite different since almost dying. "Though, despite that, you have quite a few redeeming qualities..."

Robin could only make a few small whimpers as he then adjusted himself a bit, the soft sounds almost like music to his ears – music which he could listen to all day long, and would only be for him. _Wonderful._ As he loved to tease her though, he pressed his lips against her neck, inducing a sudden gasp.

"I- If that bruises, you're in trouble!"

"If it bruises, then it will let people know that you're mine, and mine only… Perhaps I shall have to give you a few more." She let out a few stutters as she felt the warmth of his breath then against her jaw. "I think here is a good place..."

After that kiss, Robin then went and did a similar action to him. She was beginning to get rather frustrated – he was there, trying to put off the most fundamental part of their love making with kisses… At the same time though, she found it… sweet. Never had she felt him be so caring before… It was a side which she rarely ever got to see of him. "You know… If this moment passes… Wouldn't it be awkward? You and me… together… and you're as limp as limp could-!" She was cut off from her remark by another sudden kiss, this time on the lips, as he took hold of her legs and wrapped them around him.

The deep, soothing sound which he made when he did that though, gods, it redeemed his dawdling almost straight away. "You had better pick a god and pray, my love… I'm going to try and get a critical attack on you now..."

She almost snorted at that remark, but the sudden thrust turned it into a squeal. "Th- This isn't a battlefield, Frederick!" Her face turned crimson as his cheesiness became worse after that.

"It is, Robin… It is… A battlefield of emotions and love… I am your 'damn knight', am I not?"

Neither of the two were able to get out many sentences, let alone words for the next few minutes, the only sounds to be heard around the room being Robin's delicate whimpers and moans, and Frederick's occasional chuckles and groans. Robin did, however, have one thought in her head, and was one which she shared with her future husband. _If this was what showing their love to each other was like...perhaps they would have to have sessions such as this more often._ _Forget that… they would probably have to forget staying in separate rooms, and stay together in one if they wanted to continue with this…_

What neither of the two realised though… They were being listened in to. Though the door was locked, it was not soundproof…

Lissa and Gaius _could not wait_ to let all of the Shepherds know about what was going on in the confines of Frederick's room...


End file.
